Internet Browsers

Hey all

I'm working on a site (can't be specific about what), and i need to test the site in as many browsers as possible. I'm trying to come up with a list of browsers that are compatible with Windows.


Also i need to know if its possible to have multiple versions of the same browser installed, say internet explorer 1, 2,3,4,5,6,7....


Here's the list i have so far


Mozilla FireFox 1,2,3
Internet Explorer 1,2,3,4,5,6,7
Opera
Opera (Wii)
Netscape Explorer
Links
PS3 Internet Explorer
PSP Internet Explorer
Safari (Windows)

Can anyone think of any others?



Thanks for your help


Ryan

 

Yes, apparently it is possible to have multiple versions of IE installed. If you do a quick search you'll find all the infos. This for example, might be helpful.

 

Theres many versions of opera, and the Pre-Firefox mozilla browsers

 

For console web brower (operawii, and psp browser) the resolution is low and you see a web page in a TV screen, so you should use a web layout for 800x600 pixel.

 

hmmmm...As my testing continues I've found a few glitches. In testing with Internet Explorer 3 rollover images don't work, neither does what appears to be style sheets (.css) We're trying to maintain a uniform site here, however, these minor glitches are pissing me off


I think i may just forget about IE3,4,5 as anyone running them has bigger issues then the site glitches

 

What about Opera Mini and Opera for mobiles? I usually post here with my phone in my daily on-the-bus 2 hours. I think it can have a special section with the same but without flash content or very big images ^_^
Anyway, this can be really annoying when it's time to make a website (I never applied this on my own site )

 

I would suggest testing your site with:

IE 5.01, 5.5, 6 & 7 (Seperate installations using seperate OS's use Virtual PC or something sililar is the only true way to test, there again it depends on the complexity of the site's markup)

Firefox 2.x & 3.x

Opera 8.x & 9.x

Netscape 8.x & 9.x

Safari Lastest couple of versions should do. (Firefox & Safari use Mozilla so in theory Firefox = Safari on most issues)

I have never had an issue using PSP, PS3 or wii browsers on my sites after running tests and fixes on the above. (Sites I have worked on dont really cater for this market so it has never been a real consideration in my building)

Mobiles - Seperate style sheets, including text only and a more graphic version for the better mobile browsers, but the time and effort it takes to get these right is a pain! I suggest creating a text only/ very limited graphic CSS for mobile users to use and when the site is live if your logs tell you certain mobiles are popular.

 

No they don't - Firefox uses the mozilla rendering engine, Safari uses KHTML, as also used in konqueror. Testing Safari 2 and 3 should be adequate. Might be worth trying IE5 mac too

 

Quite right, not sure where my head was when I wrote that. To be honest its a while since I managed the testing and fixes myself!

 

wasnt safari based off of netscape, as both browsers are strikingly similar?

 

Nope, they're just both standards based rather than MS "Make it up as we go along" based.

 

Safari uses WebKit, which is based on KHTML, but has a bunch of improvements Apple wrote. So I've been told Konqueror will use WebKit when KDE4 comes out.

Oh, and on the subject of Konqueror, don't forget to test with that and other Linux browsers. Galeon, Epiphany and Kazehakase come to mind. If you come across it, Iceweasel is a rebranded Firefox (trademark issues, long story).
I would also recommend a text-based browser like Links. It depends what your site is about, but hey, you never know who might want to visit, and it's not like it's much trouble.

 

whoops i meant firefox.......heheh.......firefox is based off the same standards as netscape...

hehe, yea, right now im focusing on alot of windows based machines, as well as a few linux ones


I'm starting to think that alot of older browsers don't support CSS, especially the older IE's


Ryan

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascading_Style_Sheets#Difficulty_with_adoption

Tells you about the adoption rate of CSS (heh funny way to type it)

 

You could also try Netscape 4.79, along with other old software found here:
http://oldversion.com/

 

At the end of the day, you only need to cater for the browsers that users will be using while browsing the site. If you are upgrading a site can you get hold of stats to identify what browsers are currenlty being used?

Aiming your site to work idencticley on all browsers and all versions will probobley be impossible (without lots and lots hacks) an IMO not neccessary, if users use a stupidly old browser they will already know that sites will not render 100% correctly and they live with that choice or would upgrade.

 

Other web browsers:
Accoo Browser - http://www.acoobrowser.com/
Amaya - http://www.w3.org/Amaya/User/BinDist.html
Flock - http://www.flock.com/download/
Hot Java - http://java.sun.com/products/archive/hotjava/index.html
Inquisitor - http://inquisitor.sourceforge.net/trailer.html

There's loads more I'm sure.

Also, no concern for OS X Browsers?

 

nah, no concerns for osx, as im more or less responsible for win32 and other os's, ie linux....

anyways, we've finally got everything figured out and finished. I'm now working on another site lol

 

If you are seriously testing more than the last two versions of Firefox, IE, and Opera, you're wasting your time.

I would highly suggest first writing HTML compliant code (you can have your pages checked online). Once that's done, go through it in IE 6 & 7, as that's what most people use, and they are also the furthest away from standards (contrary to what you hear, and M$ says). Once you get those two looking good, 90% of your problems will be done. Give them a once over in Firefox & Opera and your site will most likely be finished.

 

Aside from having the IE standalone packages (from evolt.org), Every other browser can be Thinstalled. Look it up. See http://www.thinstall.com/products/virtualization_suite.php